Saturday, July 16, 2016

Brock Lesnar has been flagged for a potential anti-doping violation in the wake of his unanimous-decision victory over Mark Hunt at UFC 200.

The UFC issued a statement on Friday afternoon saying Lesnar and the promotion had been notified by the US Anti-Doping Agency of a failed out-of-competition drug test on 28 June. Usada did not reveal the name of the substance Lesnar tested positive for. Saturday’s fight with Hunt was Lesnar’s first in five years.

The 38-year-old South Dakota native earned a record $2.5m purse.

USADA policy requires retired UFC fighters to submit to a four-month testing period before they are eligible to come back and compete. But the UFC has the right to offer exemptions from this rule, and so it did. Lesnar was under USADA jurisdiction for a little over a month. That was long enough for him to get caught, but not long enough for USADA to get the lab results back before the fight.

Even before UFC 200, Lesnar was forced to address steroid speculation after opponent Hunt suggested his opponent cheated his whole UFC career. “I’ve been hearing that my entire life,” Lesnar said during a media call for UFC 200. “I’m a white boy, and I’m jacked. Deal with it.”